COLLEGE FOOTBALL NOTEBOOK: DOES #2 CLEMSON NOW HAVE CLEAR SAILING RIGHT UP TO THE PLAYOFFS?

We looked it up: Last year the then-Super Bowl bound New England Patriots and Atlanta Falcons never lost on the same day ... but it happened yesterday in NFL Week 4 action and both the Pats and Falcs have more than a little bit to worry about when it comes to getting back to the "promised land" (we'll explain momentarily). Yes, we had the Rams over the Cowboys and the Bills over the Falcons, and went 3-0 in NFL Totals on Sunday, with OVERS in Pats/Panthers, Titans/Texans and Eagles/Chargers

In fact, on an NFL day/night when Underdogs rock-n-rolled their way to a 9-5 ATS (against the spread) mark - one week after Dogs frolicked to an 11-4-0 ATS log (with one Pick 'Em game), there were three so-called super-powers that bite the proverbial dust should you also include the Dallas Cowboys.

Heck, the 'Boys - a 35-30 loser at home versus the 5.5-point underdog Los Angeles Rams (and a Jim Hurley Network Winner!!!) - really didn't deserve to win considering their defense never could get a handle on Rams RB Todd Gurley (see 215 offensive yards) and the Dallas ground game was ordinary at best as RB Ezekiel Elliott (21 carries for 85 yards and 1 TD) was held below the 100-yard mark for a third consecutive game.

But back to those Patriots and Falcons here:

New England's been pooh-poohing the public cries that this here-and-now defense is a virtual sieve but consider a rather pedestrian Carolina attack registered 444 yards and four touchdowns in the 33-30 home loss on Sunday and did you know that the Pats allowed scoring drives of 75 and 84 yards to an offense lacking one of its great playmakers (see injured TE Greg Olsen)?

Meanwhile, the Falcons dodged bullets in Chicago and Detroit in Week 1 and Week 3 close wins but Dan Quinn's crew wasn't so fortunate on Sunday when 9-point pup Buffalo bested the Falcons 23-17 thanks in large part to a pair of 55-and-up-yard field goals by PK Stephen Hauschka and two more picks thrown by 2016 league MVP Matt Ryan - and we didn't even mention that freaky third-quarter 52-yard Ryan fumble bring-back for a Bills' TD that pretty much swayed the game in Buffalo's favor.

So, a month into this '17 season last year's conference champs are a tad wounded - true, the Falcons (3-1) are still sitting there tied with Carolina for first place in the NFC South while the Patriots are looking up at aforementioned Buffalo in the AFC East. Not a good day to be an NFL superpower.

Sunday, bloody Sunday!

Jim Hurley's Network of Handicappers and Bloggers are ready to bang out another big-time Monday Night Football winner - So far we are 4-0 in Prime Time Games with Packers Thursday, Washington State Friday, Colorado Saturday and Seahawks last night.. We'll get you the Side & Totals from Washington at Kansas City when you check in with us today online or 1-800-323-4453. Plus remember to get all of the Major-League Baseball Playoff winners beginning with Tuesday night's American League Wild Card showdown between the Minnesota Twins at the New York Yankees and Wednesday night's National League Wild Card Game between the Colorado Rockies at the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Hey, we pounded the books this past weekend with College Football winners such as Marshall (+ 3) snagging the game outright against Cincinnati and there was Wake Forest (+ 7.5) getting the cash against Florida State and we sent you to the winner's circle with NFL Week 4 plays such as the LA Rams (+ 5.5) over Dallas and the New York Giants (+ 2.5) sneaking under the price tag in Tampa Bay.

Cha-ching!

COLLEGE FOOTBALL UPDATE

No need to pat ourselves on the back here: True, a few weeks back we were among the first media types to strongly suggest that we appear headed to a Part III title tilt between Alabama vs. Clemson ... and absolutely nothing that happened this past weekend has changed our mind!

In fact, while 'Bama was busy blowing Ole Miss to bits 66-3, the Clemson Tigers were destroying the TD-home underdog Virginia Tech Hokies 31-17 (it was 31-10 before a last-minute, fourth-down TD pass play got it a touch closer on the scoreboard) and hats off to ABC/ESPN's Kirk Herbstreit for correctly pointing out that there might not be any real tough obstacles in Clemson's way right through the regular season: Is the Nov. 4th game at N.C. State gonna be a problem - or how about the home game versus Florida State the following Saturday? Nah.

Dabo Swinney's Tigers are 5-0 SU (straight-up) and 4-1 ATS at the present time and the defending champs have outscored their first five foes 182-to-54 - and, don't look now, but QB Kelly Bryant (94 yards rushing and 186 yards passing against V-Tech) is turning into on-field spitting image of Deshaun Watson ... really!

Pin us down right now and we say Alabama and Clemson will be joined by Penn State and Oklahoma (or Oklahoma State) in this year's college playoffs but we've got a pretty good idea of who's gonna be the last two teams standing.

NOTE: We re-cap Redskins-Chiefs plus lots more in the next edition of Jim Sez!

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